The Philippines finds itself in Southeast Asia, in a wondrous archipelago of seven thousand islands in the Western Pacific. It began as a Spanish colony but was ceded first by the Spanish to the Americans, and subsequently by the Americans to the Japanese; it eventually achieved independence on July 4 1946 following World War II. Its rich colonial past has given it a unique blend of cultures and has promoted a successful fusion of the cultures, religions, and societal values from the East and West. The Philippines prides itself on the gregarious and helpful nature of its people, and their attitude of ?hospitality? toward one another as well as foreigners. Since its emergence as an independent nation in the 1940s, it has ridden its strengths to achieve economic success; however, it has also faced many setbacks from an economic perspective as a direct consequence of internal and external factors.

[...] A recurring theme in the trends of the Filipino economy has been political corruption and poor leadership. The high levels of corruption indicate that there is a large underground economy that is not accounted for in the calculation of GDP. Ferdinand Marcos's rule left the economy in a lurch and Corazon Aquino's administration further dampened economic growth. Fidel Ramos's reign, however, posted higher GDP growth rates and stimulated further economic growth. The strong and sustained economic growth the Philippines was experiencing in the 1990s took a major blow when the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997 came by. [...]

[...] After the Asian Currency Crisis, the economy has rebounded strongly and exceeded its pre-Asian Currency Crisis levels. The GDP per capita has risen from US$3600 in 2000 to US$5700 in 2007. The GDP growth rate has been steadily rising and reached a high of in 2007. The peso has also been strengthening in value, and it has been trading at PHP 41 level to a US dollar in 2007 making it Asia's best performing currency. The stock market also reached a record high in June 2007. [...]

[...] The labor force size has increased by 4 million from 32 million to 36 million from 2000 to 2007. The net population growth rate is 10 births per 1000 people, which is significantly high.[3] The labor pool is constantly increasing in size as a result of this rapid population increase, and an insufficient number of jobs are being created for the new entrants to the labor pool. The minimum wage could also have an impact on the unemployment rate. A higher minimum wage could have caused a greater surplus of labor supply (more unemployed workers) as shown in the following diagram, thus leading to more workers being unemployed and a higher unemployment rate. [...]